Breathe It Away
by xAnonymousWarriorx
Summary: <html><head></head>After finally escaping from the VRMMORPG that had entrapped 10,000 people and killed many of them, Tsukuda Aika can't shake the memories of Aincrad, or her obtained skills. Obsessed and struggling to keep her secret, Aika soon finds someone to confide in, but that someone is keeping something from her. At the risk of breaking her own heart, she will not stop until she knows what.</html>


**Breathe It Away**

**1**

I breathe out slowly, watching my breath billow away from my face, the white cloud floating up, up. The cold early spring air is pinching at my ears and my cheeks, leaving red marks of its presence. Nuzzling my face into my scarf so only my eyes were above the warm, red material, I stand up from the bench and begin walking, shivering slightly.

"Aika-chan!" I start at the sound of my name being projected by a familiar voice, and I turn.

"Emiko-chan?" I say quietly, surprised. My friend runs up and tackle hugs me, nearly taking us both to the ground. "Wahh! Watch out, Emiko!"

She isn't even listening. "Ai-chan, I've been looking for you all day! What are you doing out here? It's way too cold to be eating lunch outside, you'll catch a cold, or the flu, or pneumonia!" I sigh and dust myself off.

"The day isn't even halfway over, Emi-chan. And I'm fine. What do you think coats, scarves and gloves are for?" I say with a smile, gesturing down at myself. Emiko has always been way over-dramatic, but that's just the way I like her. We've been best friends since grade school, always extremely close, but I do need some time on my own every once in a while.

"Well... Whatever," she says after a moment of thought, unable to come up with some clever retort. "Come inside with me, I was waiting for you." The dark blond haired girl grabs my arm and I don't protest as she starts pulling me towards the school building. As we walk, and as Emiko finally lets go of me, we're silent. Well, at least, I am. My friend keeps on talking to me, and in return I give her short answers, but I'm not really paying attention. Instead I focus on the lightly snow-dusted trees, ice glistening, and the frosty earth, small shoots of grass beginning to push through.

_It's kind of early for the plants to be coming up already,_ I think to myself, but then I smile. I love spring and summer, so the fact that it's coming slightly early this year doesn't bother me at all.

Before I know it, we're back inside and Emi has sat down at a table. She's staring at me with a weird look.

"What?" I say, tilting my head slightly to the side.

"Aren't you going to sit down? You've been standing there staring out the window for like, five minutes," she says, and I flush, quickly pulling out the chair and plopping into it.

"O-Oh, I was just, um... gome," I say, feeling suddenly very hot, and I pull off my extra articles of clothing, leaving me in my school uniform. Emiko just giggles. "You're silly, Ai-chan. But I know what you were doing."

My sky blue eyes go wide as she leans slightly over the table, a smirk on her face. I lean back, a bead of sweat forming at my temple. "You... do?" My heart beats a little faster, embarrassment pricking at my ears. I never told anyone, not even Emiko about my strange obsession for the forest, and what had happened to me during my time trapped in Sword Art Online. At least, not everything.

"You were staring at those boys, weren't you?" she says with a squeak, and I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding. So she doesn't know. I turn my head to search for the boys she's talking about, spotting four guys walking down the path we had just come from.

"So, I was right!" she says after I forget to answer when my eyes wandered back over to the trees, and I assume that she thinks I was staring at the boys. I whip my head back around to face her, blush at my cheeks and an indignant expression on my face.

"I was_ not_ staring!" I say, but she doesn't believe me, the argument going on for some time, only cut off as it's time to go back to class.

"Just drop it," I growl as I keep a fast pace, glaring at her from the corner of my eye. Being shorter than me, and having shorter legs, she's struggling to keep up with me.

"Oh, but I can't, Ai-chan! Now I know that you have a crush on the guys in the swi-" I stop walking and turn to clap a hand over her mouth before she can say anything else, my face so hot with embarrassment I almost want to shove it in the snow. Some other students in the hall are staring at us, thanks to Emiko's big mouth.

"Be quiet, Emiko!" I hiss, not wanting anyone else to hear. "Why are you trying to tell the whole school?!"

Her light fern green eyes shine, and she pulls my hand away from her mouth. "So you _do _like one of them! Who is it? Or maybe it's all of them? What hair color do you like? Tall or super tall? Do you like glasses on a guy?" These questions follow me into mine and Emiko's classroom, and I ignore all of her attempts to get me to give up which one of the guys in the swim club I supposedly have a crush on.

"...well, I have to say that I can't blame you, Ai-chan!" she says with a wink, taking her seat at her desk next to mine. "I mean, have you seen them at swim practice? Oh, of course you have. Then you already know how hot they are barely clothed!"

I roll my eyes at her statement, but my face is still a little flushed. I've watched them practice before, but it wasn't because I have a crush on any of them. _Ah, oh well. Having Emiko think this is better than having her know the truth. _I don't know what my blond haired friend would think of me if she knew. My secret is big. Well, I think it is. And I'm sure Emi would too. So I have to do everything I can to keep her from finding out, so she doesn't leave me, so she doesn't become disgusted or appalled of me, or something worse... so she doesn't become afraid of me.

"You watch us practice?" a rather nonchalant voice says, and I jump as it wrenches me out of my thoughts. I look to the side and find myself staring at the stomach of someone who's standing, so I bring my eyes further up the body of the person until I reach their face. I immediately flush and my pale blue eyes go wide.

"A-Ah, Nanase-san!" I say nervously, my cheeks and ears burning up. His ocean blue eyes are staring at me intensely, and I feel a small shiver go up my spine and across my arms, slightly freaked out by his expression. Suddenly I realize his question, and I get even redder, if possible. "N-no!" I say at first, but that's not completely true. "Well, I-I guess sometimes I do... but not every day!"

He just continues to stare at me in response, and I feel like shrinking away to where no one will ever see me again. Then, he gives a sound that sort of sounds like a "hm" and turns away, walking back to his desk. I can finally breathe again. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I turn to Emiko.

"Emiko-chan! How many times to I have to tell you to drop it!" I growl, but she only giggles.

"As many times as it takes before you give up!"


End file.
